Mobile value-added services (VAS) are services that are offered to differentiate mobile phone manufacturers, cellular service providers and software vendors. Often, such services are provided at a premium price. Mobile VAS include non-voice advanced messaging services such as short messaging service (SMS) and wireless data services based on wireless data bearer technologies, such as wireless local area network (WLAN), general purpose radio service (GPRS), wireless access protocol (WAP) with VAS applications including mobile gaming and global positioning services (GPS).
Mobile VAS also includes voice-based services such as push-to-talk (PTT). Push-to-talk (PTT) is a method of conversing on half-duplex communication lines. To initiate PTT, a button is pressed to transmit on the tuned frequency or channel. While the PTT button remains unpressed, any radio signals that are received on the selected channel are heard through the radio's speaker. If the radio supports full-duplex operation, received, audio may be heard while the PTT button is pressed. PTT has been adopted by cell phone carriers as a way to instantaneously send transmissions to other users on the system, emulating walkie-talkie communications on a mobile phone network. However, current PTT technologies are used only for the wireless speech communications capability. The primary advantage to PTT is the low connectivity times provided by the PTT network.
The interface for providing input to the phone has undergone many changes as mobile devices have become smarter and implement larger display screens. Providing a user-friendly menu navigation will have a significant impact on the user experience. Nevertheless, all input is currently handled by one or two fingers on the screen. Scroll wheels and QWERTY keyboards have been added to some devices to increase the ease of data entry and navigation. Recently, mobile devices have been released with touch screens surfaces, wherein input and navigation are handled by tapping on icons of choice, flicking through a scrolling menu, typing on the virtual keyboard, navigating through the playlist or initiating phone calls from a contacts area.
While these advancements provide greater ease of navigation, such user input requires a great deal of attention from the user. Recently, automobiles have been introduced with voice-enabled technology. For example, voice recognition navigation systems allow drivers to verbally communicate with the navigation system while their hands and eyes stay focused on the road. Drivers may simply press a “Talk” button and state any number of pre-set phrases, such as ‘Find Nearest Hospital’ or ‘Find Nearest Italian Restaurant’. Nevertheless, the processing capability of such systems are limited and services offered by voice recognition systems are limited to navigation services and simple commands, such as directing a music system to begin playing a particular song.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made.